The Social Construction Of Rationality

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The Social Construction of Rationality

Author : Onno Bouwmeester
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 204 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2017-03-16
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781317530763

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The Social Construction of Rationality by Onno Bouwmeester Pdf

There are many different forms of rationality. In current economic discourse the main focus is on instrumental rationality and optimizing, while organization scholars, behavioural economists and policy scientists focus more on bounded rationality and satisficing. The interplay with value rationality or expressive rationality is mainly discussed in philosophy and sociology, but never in an empirical way. This book shows that not one, but three different forms of rationality (subjective, social and instrumental) determine the final outcomes of strategic decisions executed by major organizations. Based on an argumentation analysis of six high-profile public debates, this book adds nuance to the concept of bounded rationality. The chapters show how it is socially constructed, and thus dependent on shared beliefs or knowledge, institutional context and personal interests. Three double case studies investigating the three rationalities illustrate how decision makers and stakeholders discuss the appropriateness of these rationalities for making decisions in different practice contexts. The first touches more on personal concerns, like wearing a niqab or looking at obscene art exposed in a public environment; the second investigates debates on improving the rights and position of specific minorities; and the third is based on the agreement on instrumental reasons for two kinds of investments, but the cost arguments are regarded less relevant when social norms or personal interests are violated. The Social Construction of Rationality is for those who study political economy, economic psychology and public policy, as well as economic theory and philosophy.

The Social Construction of Rationality

Author : Onno Bouwmeester
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 204 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2017-03-16
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781317530756

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The Social Construction of Rationality by Onno Bouwmeester Pdf

There are many different forms of rationality. In current economic discourse the main focus is on instrumental rationality and optimizing, while organization scholars, behavioural economists and policy scientists focus more on bounded rationality and satisficing. The interplay with value rationality or expressive rationality is mainly discussed in philosophy and sociology, but never in an empirical way. This book shows that not one, but three different forms of rationality (subjective, social and instrumental) determine the final outcomes of strategic decisions executed by major organizations. Based on an argumentation analysis of six high-profile public debates, this book adds nuance to the concept of bounded rationality. The chapters show how it is socially constructed, and thus dependent on shared beliefs or knowledge, institutional context and personal interests. Three double case studies investigating the three rationalities illustrate how decision makers and stakeholders discuss the appropriateness of these rationalities for making decisions in different practice contexts. The first touches more on personal concerns, like wearing a niqab or looking at obscene art exposed in a public environment; the second investigates debates on improving the rights and position of specific minorities; and the third is based on the agreement on instrumental reasons for two kinds of investments, but the cost arguments are regarded less relevant when social norms or personal interests are violated. The Social Construction of Rationality is for those who study political economy, economic psychology and public policy, as well as economic theory and philosophy.

Rational Choice and Social Constructivism in a Social Capital Perspective

Author : Samuel Schmid
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
Page : 5 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2010-11-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9783640764723

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Rational Choice and Social Constructivism in a Social Capital Perspective by Samuel Schmid Pdf

Essay aus dem Jahr 2008 im Fachbereich Politik - Politische Theorie und Ideengeschichte, Note: 1.0, Universität Luzern, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: This essay is concerned with the rational choice theory assumption of complete information in behavioral contexts. I argue that this world is too complex for such a simplification to be accurate. I conclude that the principle of complete information is flawed in respect to social constructivists’ views as well as theories of bounded rationality and social capital.

The Social Sciences and Rationality

Author : Hudson Meadwell
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 295 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2017-10-19
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781351322867

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The Social Sciences and Rationality by Hudson Meadwell Pdf

In recent decades, rational choice theory has emerged as the single most powerful, controversial claimant to provide a unified, theoretical framework for all the social sciences. In its simplest form, the theory postulates that humans are purposive beings who pursue their goals in a rational, efficient manner, seeking the greatest benefit at the lowest cost. This volume brings together prominent scholars working in several social science disciplines and the philosophy of science to debate the promise and problems of rational choice theory. As rational choice theory has spread from its home base in economics to other disciplines, it has come under fierce criticism. To its critics, the extension of the explanatory model mistakenly assumes that the logic of economic rationality can explain non-economic behavior and, at its worst, commits the ethnocentric error of imposing Western concepts of rationality on non-Western societies and cultures. This volume includes strong advocates as well as forceful critics of the rational choice approach. However, in contrast to previous debates, all the contributors share a commitment to open, constructive and knowledgeable dialogue. Well-known advocates of rational choice theory (Michael Hechter, Michael Smith, Chris Manfredi) explicitly ponder some of its serious limitations, while equally well-known critics (Ian Shapiro, Mario Bunge) strike a surprisingly conciliatory tone in contemplating its legitimate uses. Vociferous critics of neoclassical economics (Bunge) favorably discuss sociological proponents of rational choice theory while two economists who are not particularly anti-mainstream (Robin Rowley, George Grantham) critically assess the problems of such assumptions in their discipline. Philosophers (Storrs McCall) and sociologists (John Hall) alike reflect on the variable meaning of rationality in explaining social behavior. In the introduction and conclusion, the editors survey the current state of the debate and show how open, constructive dialogue enables us to move beyond hackneyed accusations and dismissals that have characterized much previous debate.

Rationality and the Social Sciences (RLE Social Theory)

Author : S.I. Benn,G.W. Mortimore
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 422 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317651277

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Rationality and the Social Sciences (RLE Social Theory) by S.I. Benn,G.W. Mortimore Pdf

The concepts of rationality that are used by social scientists in the formation of hypotheses, models and explanations are explored in this collection of original papers by a number of distinguished philosophers and social scientists. The aim of the book is to display the variety of the concepts used, to show the different roles they play in theories of very different kinds over a wide range of disciplines, including economics, sociology, psychology, political science and anthropology, and to assess the explanatory and predictive power that a theory can draw from such concepts.

The Social Construction of Reality

Author : Peter L. Berger,Thomas Luckmann
Publisher : Open Road Media
Page : 313 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2011-04-26
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781453215463

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The Social Construction of Reality by Peter L. Berger,Thomas Luckmann Pdf

A watershed event in the field of sociology, this text introduced “a major breakthrough in the sociology of knowledge and sociological theory generally” (George Simpson, American Sociological Review). In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.

The Social Sciences and Rationality

Author : Hudson Meadwell
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2017-10-19
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781351322874

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The Social Sciences and Rationality by Hudson Meadwell Pdf

In recent decades, rational choice theory has emerged as the single most powerful, controversial claimant to provide a unified, theoretical framework for all the social sciences. In its simplest form, the theory postulates that humans are purposive beings who pursue their goals in a rational, efficient manner, seeking the greatest benefit at the lowest cost. This volume brings together prominent scholars working in several social science disciplines and the philosophy of science to debate the promise and problems of rational choice theory. As rational choice theory has spread from its home base in economics to other disciplines, it has come under fierce criticism. To its critics, the extension of the explanatory model mistakenly assumes that the logic of economic rationality can explain non-economic behavior and, at its worst, commits the ethnocentric error of imposing Western concepts of rationality on non-Western societies and cultures. This volume includes strong advocates as well as forceful critics of the rational choice approach. However, in contrast to previous debates, all the contributors share a commitment to open, constructive and knowledgeable dialogue. Well-known advocates of rational choice theory (Michael Hechter, Michael Smith, Chris Manfredi) explicitly ponder some of its serious limitations, while equally well-known critics (Ian Shapiro, Mario Bunge) strike a surprisingly conciliatory tone in contemplating its legitimate uses. Vociferous critics of neoclassical economics (Bunge) favorably discuss sociological proponents of rational choice theory while two economists who are not particularly anti-mainstream (Robin Rowley, George Grantham) critically assess the problems of such assumptions in their discipline. Philosophers (Storrs McCall) and sociologists (John Hall) alike reflect on the variable meaning of rationality in explaining social behavior. In the introduction and conclusion, the editors survey the current state of the debate and show how open, constructive dialogue enables us to move beyond hackneyed accusations and dismissals that have characterized much previous debate.

Individuality and Entanglement

Author : Herbert Gintis
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 379 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2016-11-08
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780691172910

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Individuality and Entanglement by Herbert Gintis Pdf

A richly transdisciplinary account of some fundamental characteristics of human societies and behavior In this book, acclaimed economist Herbert Gintis ranges widely across many fields—including economics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, moral philosophy, and biology—to provide a rigorous transdisciplinary explanation of some fundamental characteristics of human societies and social behavior. Because such behavior can be understood only through transdisciplinary research, Gintis argues, Individuality and Entanglement advances the effort to unify the behavioral sciences by developing a shared analytical framework—one that bridges research on gene-culture coevolution, the rational-actor model, game theory, and complexity theory. At the same time, the book persuasively demonstrates the rich possibilities of such transdisciplinary work. Everything distinctive about human social life, Gintis argues, flows from the fact that we construct and then play social games. Indeed, society itself is a game with rules, and politics is the arena in which we affirm and change these rules. Individuality is central to our species because the rules do not change through inexorable macrosocial forces. Rather, individuals band together to change the rules. Our minds are also socially entangled, producing behavior that is socially rational, although it violates the standard rules of individually rational choice. Finally, a moral sense is essential for playing games with socially constructed rules. People generally play by the rules, are ashamed when they break the rules, and are offended when others break the rules, even in societies that lack laws, government, and jails. Throughout the book, Gintis shows that it is only by bringing together the behavioral sciences that such basic aspects of human behavior can be understood.

Rationality in the Social Sciences

Author : Helmut Staubmann,Victor Lidz
Publisher : Springer
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2017-11-30
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9783319623771

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Rationality in the Social Sciences by Helmut Staubmann,Victor Lidz Pdf

This volume presents for the first time a collection of historically important papers written on the concept of rationality in the social sciences. In 1939-40, the famed Austrian economist Joseph A. Schumpeter and the famous sociologist Talcott Parsons convened a faculty seminar at Harvard University on the topic of rationality. The first part includes their essays as well as papers by the Austrian phenomenologist Alfred Schütz, the sociologist Wilbert Moore, and the economist Rainer Schickele. Several younger economists and sociologists with bright futures also participated, including Alex Gerschenkron, John Dunlop, Paul M. Sweezy, and Wassily W. Leontief, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize for developing input-output analysis. The second part presents essays and commentaries written by today’s internationally noted social scientists and addressing the topic of rationality in social action from a broad range of perspectives. The book’s third and final part shares the recently discovered correspondence between the seminar principals regarding the original but failed plan to publish its proceedings. It also includes letters, not previously published, between Richard Grathoff, Walter M. Sprondel and Talcott Parsons on the rationality seminar and the exchanges between Parsons and Schütz.

Collected Papers I. The Problem of Social Reality

Author : A. Schutz
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 404 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9789401028516

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Collected Papers I. The Problem of Social Reality by A. Schutz Pdf

A series of studies by Alred Schutz centering aroudn the problem of sociality.

Sustaining Civil Society

Author : Philip Oxhorn
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2015-08-21
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780271056616

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Sustaining Civil Society by Philip Oxhorn Pdf

“South America is not the poorest continent in the world, but it may very well be the most unjust.” This statement by Ricardo Lagos, then president of Chile, at the Summit of the Americas in January 2004 captures nicely the dilemma that faces Latin American countries in the wake of the transition to democracy that swept across the continent in the last two decades of the twentieth century. While political rights are now available to citizens at unprecedented levels, social and economic rights lag far behind, and the fledgling democracies struggle with long legacies of poverty, inequality, and corruption. Key to understanding what is happening in Latin America today is the relationship between the state and civil society. In this ambitious book, Philip Oxhorn sets forth a theory of civil society adequate for explaining current developments in a way that such controversial neoconservative theories as Francis Fukuyama’s liberal triumphalism or Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” cannot. Inspired by the rich political sociology of an earlier era and the classic work of T. H. Marshall on citizenship, Oxhorn studies the process by which social groups are incorporated, or not, into national socioeconomic and political development through an approach that focuses on the “social construction of citizenship.”

Choice, Rationality and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory)

Author : Barry Hindess
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 142 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317652144

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Choice, Rationality and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory) by Barry Hindess Pdf

Choice, Rationality and Social Theory is a powerful rebuttal of the remarkably influential theories underlying 'rational choice analysis'. Rational choice analysis maintains that social life is principally to be explained as the outcome of rational choices on the part of individual actors. Adherents of this view include not only philosophers, political scientists and sociologists, but also prominent politicians in Western governments – notably of the United Kingdom and the United States. Rational choice analysis is said to be rigorous, capable of great technical sophistication, and able to generate powerful explanations on the basis of a few, relatively simple theoretical assumptions. Barry Hindess argues that the theory is seriously deficient, first, because there are important actors in the modern world other than human individuals, and second, because it says nothing about those processes of deliberation that play an important part in actors' decisions. The use of highly questionable assumptions about actors and their rationality has the effect of closing off important areas of intellectual inquiry and ignoring the reality of certain forms of thought and the social conditions on which they depend. These points are established through detailed examination of the concepts of the actor and of rationality – providing an overall argument that constitutes a serious challenge to any adherent of rational choice analysis.

Max Weber's Construction of Social Theory

Author : Martin Albrow
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 348 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 1990
Category : Sociologists
ISBN : UCSC:32106016852011

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Max Weber's Construction of Social Theory by Martin Albrow Pdf

A study of the work of German sociologist, Max Weber, including a brief biography and an exploration in Weberian social theory.

Rationality and the Social Sciences

Author : Stanley I. Benn,G. W. Mortimore
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2015
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 1315763435

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Rationality and the Social Sciences by Stanley I. Benn,G. W. Mortimore Pdf

The concepts of rationality that are used by social scientists in the formation of hypotheses, models and explanations are explored in this collection of original papers by a number of distinguished philosophers and social scientists. The aim of the book is to display the variety of the concepts used, to show the different roles they play in theories of very different kinds over a wide range of disciplines, including economics, sociology, psychology, political science and anthropology, and to assess the explanatory and predictive power that a theory can draw from such concepts.

The Social Construction of Public Administration

Author : Jong S. Jun
Publisher : State University of New York Press
Page : 330 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2012-02-01
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780791481899

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The Social Construction of Public Administration by Jong S. Jun Pdf

Challenges the limitations of modern public administration theories.